The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Fortunately, Lu Zhi is currently focused on returning to Luoyang and rescuing the royal family, so he is not too demanding of Chen Er's behavior. For Lu Zhi, the more important thing is to rescue the royal family and restore the prestige of the empire. As the Grand General of the Empire and holding the power of three provinces, it is already quite good that Chen Er has not directly rebelled. He is someone who can be won over. Besides, does Lu Zhi still have the strength to oppose him at this time?

According to Huangpu Song's report, although Chen Er's army only numbered over 100,000 at this time, its combat power far exceeded that of the new Bingzhou army. In particular, the firearms and cannons equipped by the Youzhou army were more powerful than those of the Bingzhou army, not to mention that the Bingzhou army was less than half the size of Chen Er's forces at this time.

Of course, in order to win over Lu Zhi, Chen Er also gave him some benefits, such as the Shenwu cannon. Although Lu Zhi took away the key personnel of the Luoyang arsenal, most of the machinery was left in Luoyang. At this time, the military production capacity of Bingzhou Army had not recovered. At this time, Chen Er provided Lu Zhi with the Shenwu cannon and tens of thousands of matchlock guns (old-fashioned matchlock guns without rifling) that the Youzhou Army had discarded.

After receiving these promises from Chen Er, Lu Zhi could no longer remain calm. He immediately agreed to the suggestion of Chen Er's envoy Xun Yu, agreeing to respond to the call of the Northern Autonomous Region and declare Bingzhou's autonomy! At the same time, Kong Rong of Beihai also agreed. The reason was simple: Beihai could not defeat Youzhou and did not want to collude with the likes of Ding Yuan. Compared to Ding Yuan and his ilk, Kong Rong preferred to cooperate with Chen Er and Lu Zhi, at least the two of them would not betray their comrades.

Unlike Ding Yuan, who outwardly acts as your teammate but secretly bribes his adopted son and subordinates, and even plots to kill you.

And so the Northern Autonomous Region spread like wildfire throughout the empire. Ding Yuan was furious. Some royalists were secretly pleased but also worried. They were pleased that someone had challenged Ding Yuan, but worried that this so-called Northern Autonomous Region would actually break away from the empire.

However, Chen Er was unaware of the shock his establishment of the Northern Autonomous Region would bring him, and how this event would completely change his understanding of the world.

Of course, these are all things for later. The most important thing now is the internal integration of Chen Er. Since Lu Zhi and Kong Rong are only responding to the call for autonomy and will not join the administrative system of the Northern Autonomous Region, the consolidation of Chen Er's power will still take place in the three places of Jizhou, Youzhou, and Anbei Protectorate.

On the military front, the First Army Corps reinforced the Fourth Army led by Huang Zhen to garrison Jizhou. At the same time, a new round of conscription and reserve construction was launched in Jizhou. The expected goal was to reach 100,000 regular troops. This goal was not difficult. After several major battles, tens of thousands of prisoners of war had already been captured. In addition to the existing First Army Corps and Fourth Army, the actual difference was not large. The main difference was the replacement of flintlock muskets.

Due to the death of Yue Jin, Yu Jin temporarily took command of the Second Army Corps, working with Jiang Ji to rebuild it. The Second Army Corps was stationed along the line from Zhongshan to Zhuojun, primarily to defend against the Bingzhou army and the remaining hostile forces in northern Jizhou. The Third Army Corps' mission remained unchanged. Meanwhile, Chen Er began forming the Fourth Army Corps, commanded by Zhao Yun, with Xun Yu and Zhang Liao temporarily serving as deputies. The Fourth Army Corps' main force was cavalry. Chen Er tasked Zhao Yun with establishing the core framework of two cavalry corps within a year. Within three years, Chen Er aimed to have at least 20,000 elite cavalry. Furthermore, Chen Er began employing ethnic minority mercenaries within the autonomous region, hiring nomadic cavalry for combat. However, this was not urgent; it could only officially begin after Zhao Yun's Fourth Army Corps had gained greater strength. Initially, it would be a pilot program with tribes that had friendly trade relations with Youzhou.

At the same time, a General Headquarters was established in the Autonomous Region, with Chen Er naturally appointed as Commander-in-Chief. A modern military rank reform was also initiated, with Xi Zhicai appointed Chief of the General Staff and Xun Yu and Guo Jia appointed Deputy Chiefs of the General Staff. Gao Shun was appointed Chief Instructor of the entire army. The positions of the remaining personnel remained unchanged for the time being, to be gradually adjusted after the situation stabilized.

In terms of administration, the highest administrative council of the autonomous region was established, with six functional departments under its jurisdiction: the Ministry of Political Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Public Security. Chen Er served as the chairman of the Northern Autonomous Region Administrative Council, Xun You as the first vice chairman and concurrently the chairman of the Youzhou Administrative Council, and Tian Feng as the second vice chairman and concurrently the chairman of the Jizhou Administrative Council. The Anbei Protectorate was temporarily under the military control of Zhao Yun, with Man Chong acting as the chairman of the Anbei Administrative Council. Comparatively, Man Chong's position among the three prefectural-level chairmen was always the lowest, but this was unavoidable, given that Man Chong was a newcomer and the Anbei Protectorate was primarily a military-controlled region.

Of course, Chen Er had discussed this issue with Man Chong in private. When the time was right, Man Chong would be transferred to Qingzhou. If Man Chong still didn't understand what was going on, then he would really be letting down his intelligence.

During the reforms, some new faces emerged in the autonomous region's administrative system that were not well known to outsiders. These were people who had recently joined Chen Er's camp, such as Ju Shou and Gu Yong. These two rose to prominence and were appointed as vice chairmen of the Youzhou Administrative Council and the Jizhou Administrative Council, respectively. The implications of this are worth pondering.

On December 28th, 2187 in the Yellow Emperor's reign, the institutional reforms in the Northern Autonomous Region were gradually coming to an end. These reforms were not without their challenges, with many people standing up to oppose Chen Er's reforms, especially the powerful families of Ji Province. Chen Er's examination system and land policies were the main targets of their criticism. However, Chen Er, who had already driven out Yuan Shao, didn't care what these people said. His order to Xun You and Tian Feng was just one word: "Kill!"

Under the suppression of the powerful autonomous region's army, the voices of opposition gradually disappeared, leaving only families willing to accept Chen Er's reforms. Of course, Chen Er did not simply suppress them. As he said to Xun You, "While we are suppressing them, we must also give those families some hope, such as hope in the commercial economy. Does losing land really mean they cannot survive? I think money is the fairest thing!"

Chen Er's words were somewhat radical, but relatively speaking, they were also very fair. Indeed, money is a very fair thing. If this were not a world monopolized by powerful families, but a money-driven society, then this society would definitely be more progressive, because there is always a way to earn money.

Under the influence of this mindset, some smaller families quickly sided with the autonomous region. After all, they only wanted to survive, and they soon succumbed to Chen Er's money-driven mentality. As for the remaining large families, some became the chickens used to scare the monkeys, while others also yielded, even if it was a veneer of compromise, which those powerful families viewed as a form of submission.